When I ask you to name the technology world's most secretive company, you'd most likely respond with 'Apple'. However, there's one other technology company that, while substantially smaller than the Cupertino giant, is quite possibly even more secretive: Valve.

I can't speak for the US or if it's specifically 56K, but in Germany there are still a lot of people who either get very, very slow DSL connections or no DSL connections at all. The problem is that the big service providers won't invest the money that is needed to create the necessary infrastructure (cables in the ground) if it's only for a few dozen or even a few hundred people (like it often is if you're not living close to a big city). The other option (wireless) may be a bit cheaper, but has other problems. One of the biggest is the growing opposition against wireless due to possible health problems caused by radiation (mainly in the brain).